For those who don’t like candy corn…

October 30, 2015October 29, 2015 ~ Angela ~ Leave a comment

Word on the streets is that some of you out there don’t like candy corn? How is this possible??? It’s almost as confusing to me as folks who don’t like PEEPS. Does. not. compute. But hey, to each his own, right?

Since candy corn is quintessentially Halloween in my book I thought I’d share some candy corn treats that don’t actually contain any candy corn. You’re welcome haters. 😉

First up – I made some candy corn decorated cookies! Everybody likes sugar cookies, right? (If you don’t, please don’t tell me. My head might explode.)

Everybody loved my mustache Easter bunnies so much that I thought I’d give the ‘stache a try on my candy corn too. As I suspected, these were a big hit.

I also made a super easy Halloween bark with Kraft Jet-Puffed Candy Corn Marshmallows and Wilton Halloween sprinkles.

Marshmallow Candy Corn Bark

Ingredients
2 – 12 oz bags of chocolate melting wafers, any flavor
Bag of Kraft Jet-Puffed Candy Corn Marshmallows
Halloween sprinkles

Directions
1. Melt both bags of chocolate in a double boiler, or follow the instructions on the package for melting in the microwave.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. Pour melted chocolate onto parchment paper and spread evenly with a spatula.
*IMPORTANT – if using a double boiler, make sure you dry the bottom of your pan thoroughly before pouring the chocolate onto the parchment paper. You don’t want any water dripping onto the chocolate. I just put a dish towel down on the counter and wiped the bottom of the pan across it a few times to dry it off.
4. Immediately top chocolate with marshmallows and sprinkles.
5. Cover with another piece of parchment paper and let the chocolate harden. If you’re in a hurry you can pop the tray in the refrigerator for about a half an hour, otherwise you can just let the bark rest on the counter top.
6. Once the chocolate has set, cut the bark into randomly sized pieces.

It really doesn’t get much easier than that, and look at how fun and festive that bark looks! Plus – chocolate and marshmallow – can’t go wrong there, right? Right?!

There you go, you despisers of candy corn. You can still have some candy corn treats this Halloween! We can all live together in peace and harmony!

You PEEPS hating people on the other hand… I can’t even deal with you. 😉

So, how do you feel about candy corn? Love it or hate it? Let me know in the comments, and have a Happy Halloween!

Cranberry Pecan Pie Magic Bars

September 8, 2015September 9, 2015 ~ Angela ~ 2 Comments

Hey all! Hope everyone had a great summer! It’s been a while since I made anything worth blogging about. A business law class (whose dumb idea was it to take THAT in a 5 week condensed summer session???) left me pretty burnt out and uninspired. I have spent the last few weeks hiding out in the air conditioned glory of my living room and watching Naked and Afraid XL on the Discovery Channel.

Leave it to my favorite season to bring me out of my baking funk… About two weeks ago all kinds of fall themed goodies started popping up in my Pinterest feed, and then I saw an article about the newest seasonal flavor of M&Ms – Pecan Pie! I managed to get my hands on a bag last week and then these Cranberry Pecan Pie Magic Bars were born!

Cranberry Pecan Pie Magic Bars
Adapted from Samoa Magic Bars by The Domestic Rebel

Ingredients

Cake Base
1 box of Butter Recipe cake mix from Betty Crocker
1 egg
1/2 cup butter, melted

Brown Sugar Crumble
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar (light or dark)
1/4 cup butter, melted

Topping
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup Pecan Pie M&Ms
3/4 cup finely chopped pecans
3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9×13 inch pan with parchment paper and set aside. (I used a metal, nonstick pan. The baking times may vary if you use glass.)
In a large bowl combine the cake mix, egg and melted butter until a soft dough forms. Press the dough evenly in the bottom of the pan. Bake for 10 minutes.
While the dough is baking, make the brown sugar crumble by combining the melted butter, flour and brown sugar with a fork until crumbs form.
When the 10 minutes is up, remove the pan from the oven and pour about 1/2 cup of the sweetened condensed milk on top of the cake. Next, evenly cover the cake with the dried cranberries, chopped pecans and Pecan Pie M&Ms. Drizzle on the remaining sweetened condensed milk and then top everything with the brown sugar crumble.
Return to the oven and bake for approximately 15-20 minutes, until the crumble begins to brown.
Remove from the oven. Allow the bars to set at room temperature until cool before cutting into bars.

These bars would be perfect for a fall bake sale, or a Thanksgiving dessert table – not that you need a specific reason to make them. Sometimes you just want something to ~~stuff in your face~~ snack on while you watch Fear the Walking Dead (why is it so stressful? We KNOW what happens!!).

Whatever your reason for making them, you will find these magic bars an easy treat to whip up. If you can’t find the Pecan Pie M&Ms the Harvest Blend M&Ms would make an excellent substitute. I just love the fall color palette!

Now, I just need Mother Nature to get on board with my seasonal obsession. Today’s forecast high is 94 degrees! Not quite pumpkin picking weather just yet…

Devil’s Food Cupcakes with Strawberry Fluff Filling

February 10, 2015February 9, 2015 ~ Angela ~ 7 Comments

I’m back, and I brought more Strawberry Fluff! I think I might ask it to be my Valentine.

We could go for long walks on the beach, have picnics in the park, or snuggle up on the couch for a Netflix binge-fest. The only thing that would come between us would be a spoon… Or I could just fill some Devil’s Food cupcakes with it and then top them off with some Godiva Chocolate Liqueur spiked butter cream frosting.

Yup. Had to throw some booze in there. What says “Will you be my Valentine?” better than some Godiva chocolate? Ok, maybe some sparkly jewlery, but you can’t eat that with Strawberry Fluff.

To make these, bake a batch of your favorite Devil’s Food cupcakes. I used the Pillsbury box mix, which made 18 appropriately sized cupcakes (ahem, Pillsbury). After the cupcakes have cooled use a cupcake corer or a knife to remove a section from the center of each cupcake. Next comes the Strawberry Fluff Cream Filling.

Strawberry Fluff Cream Filling (adapted from I Heart Cuppycakes)

1-7.5 oz jar of Marshmallow Strawberry Fluff
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, room temperature

In a large bowl, whisk the marshmallow cream and butter until smooth. Transfer into pastry bag and squeeze into the center of each cupcake. You can push the bits you removed back into the top or you can just eat them. : ) Now it’s time for the frosting!

Godiva Chocolate Liqueur Butter Cream (adapted from Butter Cream Frosting II on allrecipes.com)

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 cups confectioners sugar
1/4 Godiva Chocolate Liqueur
3 tablespoons cocoa powder

Cream butter and shortening in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add all other ingredients and beat until well combined. Luckily for Pillsbury this recipe makes just enough frosting for 18 cupcakes. I like a lot of icing on my cupcakes, so you may be able to stretch this to cover 24 cupcakes depending on your frosting technique.

I topped these off with a strawberry marshmallow heart but you can decorate them any way you wish!

What’s your favorite cupcake filling? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!

Valentine’s Day Fluffernutter

February 9, 2015February 9, 2015 ~ Angela ~ 2 Comments

Did you know that STRAWBERRY Marshmallow Fluff existed? I had no idea until I saw it in the World Market section at Bed Bath and Beyond the other day. I immediately grabbed a jar off the shelf.

I wish I hadn’t.

I wish….

…that I had grabbed three or four! It’s SO GOOD!! You know the first thing I had to do was make a fluffernutter sandwich, right? Did you grow up on these things too? Gooey marshmallow and peanut butter slathered onto good old white bread. I could have eaten one every day for lunch and never gotten tired of it.

Of course, I had to take it up a notch. We are talking about STRAWBERRY Fluff, people. And what goes with strawberry?? That’s right – chocolate!

It’s Monday morning, and I’m pretty sure that you know how to make a sandwich so I am going to spare you the directions. Strawberry Fluff, your favorite chocolate nut spread (I used Peanut Butter & Co. Dark Chocolate Dreams but I am thinking Nutella would be AWESOME with this) and white bread are all you need to make this fun Valentine’s Day treat.

The kids will love this and so will you because strawberry and chocolate, that’s why. Now pardon me while I go continue eating this Strawberry Fluff straight out of the jar.